The Future is (Finally) Set
by Captain Swan-Clace-Percabeth
Summary: Ever wondered what was going on inside Percy's head when Annabeth told him that she was thinking that they should go to college at Camp Jupiter and then flowing that, when Nico revealed to Percy that he was gay? Here's your chance to find out. Major Percabeth fluff :D Please R&R, flames welcome


Percy rapped on the door of Cabin Six and leant on the frame, studying the owl etched into the wood above the door. He was comparing the stony expression of the owl to the naturally-haughty face of its creator when the door was swiftly opened revealing a 14-year-old boy of medium build with brown hair and a neutral expression. It may have been just Percy, but he thought Malcolm's face became slightly more guarded at his presence on the other side of the door.

"Oh hey, Malcolm," Percy looked past Malcolm's slightly narrowed grey eyes into the open room behind him. "I was looking for Annabeth, is she in?"

Before Percy could step into the room, Malcolm not-so-subtly blocked the entrance by leaning against the door frame. "Yeah, she's here." Percy nodded and waited for Malcolm to step aside so he could enter. When Malcolm remained blocking the doorway, Percy raised his eyebrows expectantly - and with a little exasperation, if he was going to be honest. Malcolm rolled his eyes and continued, "Can I take a message?"

Percy internally scoffed but took a half-step back in surrender and said, "Uh - yeah, I'm here to take her to breakfast so if you could just let her know, that'd be great."

Malcolm narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms, probably at an attempt to appear intimidating despite the 6-inch height difference, at least, in Percy's favour.

"Is that it?" Malcolm asked.

Percy forced a smile, "Yeah."

With one last apprehensive glance, Malcolm closed the door in his face causing Percy to jerk back to avoid getting a handful of wood smashed in his face. He glanced up once more to the haughty owl carving above the door frame and muttered to himself, "Must be genetic".

Turning to face the camp, Percy rolled his eyes as he leant on the banister. Like seriously, out of all the dangers he had faced (falling into the depths of _Tartarus_ for one) he wasn't exactly quaking in his sneakers at the mere sight of Annabeth's lanky half-brother.

Percy squinted into the light of the rising sun from across the Sound as he observed the everyday morning routine of the camp. Of course, what wasn't so every day was the presence of the Romans camping out on the strawberry fields and the reconstruction-in-progress which seemed to cover most of the camp.

Despite the mid-to-early morning hour, the main area of the camp was already bustling with activity: demi-gods moving every which way carrying planks, buckets, medical supplies, blankets and various tools; the satyrs and fauns were assisting Tyson and his other Cyclops friends with the reconstruction of the Big House, under Chiron's close supervision; even the nature spirits were banding with the children of Demeter and Ceres to regrow the jagged forest line. It warmed Percy's heart to see the Romans and the Greeks finally cooperating together, after all the work of the Seven, with the addition of Reyna, Nico and Coach Hedge, to restore Athena's sacred statue; to accomplish peace.

Percy waved to Jason as he crossed the active courtyard, on his way to Cabin Thirteen. Over the past couple of days with no sign of Leo, Percy could tell that Jason still blamed himself for Leo's death because of that one stupid prophecy, even though all the others had attempted to convince him that no one could have stopped Leo from carrying out his plan. Although Percy could understand why Leo would confide in Frank and Hazel only, he still felt saddened that so few knew of the brave son of Hephaestus' final stand until now.

As he watched some of the late stragglers packing up tents and supplies over in the strawberry fields, Percy was reminded that Jason, Frank and Hazel would be returning to Camp Jupiter later that afternoon. He had warned Jason that uniting the gods would not be an easy task; which Percy should know, considering he had attempted it just the summer before, with minor success. However, Jason remained optimistic and confident that he would achieve the near-impossible task he had chosen and Percy was glad that he would have strong leaders such as Reyna, Frank and Hazel to help him. Percy had witnessed the very beginning of Frank and Hazel's relationship and he was relieved that time had only strengthened their bond with each other. Much like his relationship with Annabeth . . .

Percy turned as he heard the door behind him open once more and couldn't help but grin as Annabeth rushed out in dark-wash denim jeans and her orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, still yelling goodbyes to her siblings. "- later Annie! Don't forget you're tutoring Macy at nine!"

Annabeth walked up to him, not skipping a beat as she continued to talk a-mile-a-minute and gesturing wildly with her hands, "Sorry you had to wait so long, I was getting dressed and then Maggie, one of my younger siblings, couldn't find her calculator and started crying," **_calculator_** _,_ _really?!_ , Percy thought, "and Kenny really needs to learn when to take a break from his algebra because he gets really frustrated and highly strung when the letters start jumping around on the page and -" Annabeth stopped to breathe as she held up her hands and squeezed her eyes shut. She fisted her hands and exhaled in one big breath, opening her eyes, "Ugh, not even important." Annabeth finally looked up at him and smiled, one of her true smiles that lit up his world, before pulling him in for a chaste kiss.

Percy's slow brain finally caught up to return the gesture before she pulled away, a soft smile gracing her perfect lips.

"Hi," she said.

Percy's smile widened, subconsciously wondering when got so incredibly whipped by this woman, "Hi," he replied.

They stared at each other for a few moments, simply enjoying a quiet moment alone - minus the whining demi-gods - and Percy pondered how Annabeth's quick transition from frantic to rambling to calm to best-girlfriend-ever mode didn't give her emotional whiplash.

Before, Percy's thoughts drifted too far from the present he snapped back to the current moment and remembered the reason he was here. He smiled brightly at Annabeth who was giving him her _what's-going-on-in-your-seaweed-brain_ face.

"Breakfast?" he asked, before she could over analyse his pensiveness.

Annabeth smiled and reached for his hand, "Breakfast."

Together, they ambled across the lawn, more than content to just relax and revel in the idea that there was no rush. Since the defeat of Gaia, it was like they had been set free. Late night watches had given way to 10 pm campfires, fighting practice to banter over who got to eat the last piece of bacon, and sleepless nights battling anxiety and nightmares to peaceful naps in the sunshine listening to the calming tide. Apart from their efforts to rebuild the camp, there hadn't been much discussion about future plans. Everyone was just happy to have some peaceful moments to quietly rest, recover and grieve.

"I was talking to Will," Annabeth was saying, "and he said that patients are recovering and some have been moved into other cabins but space is still minimal and staff has been running low, especially since we had to give Connor and Travis a reprieve after they stink bombed someone's sleeping bag. I was hoping to ask Chiron today whether some of the patients could set up camp in the Big House, just until the campers start going home next week."

"I can't believe the summer's almost over," Percy mused. "I mean, we've barely been here."

"We were busy, what with saving the world and restoring the peace. Again," Annabeth added.

"I guess it's time to start thinking about what will happen next. Of course, the camp will have to be restored and negotiations about inter-camp activities with Reyna and Frank, but then we'll have to start thinking about school and college and - " Percy trailed off as a sudden thought occurred to him which stopped him in his tracks. Annabeth turned around when their linked arms prevented her from walking any further.

When she saw Percy just standing still with a look of dumb realisation on his face, Annabeth couldn't help her natural problem-solving instincts from kicking in, causing her body to become instantly alert as she scanned the space. When no danger became apparent, Annabeth turned back to Percy, who looked as though the nerve cells in his brain were working on overload.

"What? What's wrong?" Annabeth pressed, staring in concern as Percy's face turned slowly towards her with a sparkle in his eyes.

"Remember when we were on the Argo II, on the way to Athens from the Doors of Death, and we were talking about our future?" Annabeth's face started to lose its look of concern as realisation took over, no doubt she remembered that conversation well. "You told me to ask you again when it was all over." Percy stopped there, unsure of what to say next but it turns out that further specification was not necessary; Annabeth had read his mind as per usual.

"Yes, I've been thinking about that quite a lot actually," Annabeth said, as she suddenly became quite interested in her shoes, a slight pinkish hue overtaking her cheeks.

Percy's stomach flipped a little at the thought of Annabeth considering _their_ future. Together. "Oh, you have, have you?" Percy teased her gently.

Annabeth shrugged nonchalantly, playing along as she stared at their entwined hands. "I was just thinking that, since we're seniors now and" - she cleared her throat - "kinda off the hook after this summer, I was thinking that we could go back to Manhattan together, finish up with school." Here, Annabeth paused and looked up at him, lips twitching as if to prevent herself from smiling, "Then I was thinking that we could go back to Camp Jupiter for college. Reyna was saying that they offer some great courses in architecture and I'm sure there'll be something that you like." Annabeth paused as she studied his face intently, uncertainty clouding her beautiful stormy grey eyes.

Percy's mouth had fallen open in surprise as his brain scrambled to come up with a coherent sentence to express the jubilation that was spreading through his veins. It was very similar to the feeling when he submerged himself in the ocean and he was aware of the energy flowing through his bloodstream, waking up every single nerve in his body.

Unfortunately, despite this internal revelation, the only thing that managed to escape Percy's mouth was a strangled noise that sounded a bit like, "ughngd."

Concerned by Percy's lack of enthusiastic response, Annabeth decided to prompt him, "What do you think?"

Gazing down at Annabeth's hopeful, timid smile, Percy's river of emotions broke the banks and exploded in a rush of movement and noise. He let out a loud shout of joy, startling a passerby to the point where he dropped his bucket of paint. But Percy didn't care as his mouth stretched into a wide smile and he wrapped his arms around Annabeth. She let out a squeal of surprise as he lifted her off her feet and swung her around.

"Percccy!" she yelped as he held her tighter, refusing to put her down.

Caught up in his elation, Percy failed to notice the dizziness overtaking his body until he pitched backwards, stumbling into a passing satyr carrying several buckets filled with water. Annabeth squealed as they fell sideways, crashing onto the ground, closely followed by the upturned buckets leaving them soaked to the bone.

Well . . . Annabeth was soaked but Percy had automatically stopped himself from getting wet. However, as they struggled into an upright position, rubbing the sore spots on their heads, Annabeth raised her eyebrow at Percy's dry state. He gave her sheepish grin before drawing all the water droplets from her hair and clothes, bringing it together to form a watery sphere and dropping it on his head, allow it to soak him. Annabeth smiled triumphantly and stood up, extending her hand down to him.

As Percy stood up, shaking his wet hair from his eyes, he turned to face the satyr who was collecting the empty buckets, grumbling and frowning. Despite his attempts to apologise profusely for his clumsiness, the satyr waved him off with a gruff dismissal and turned back the way he'd come to refill the buckets.

Percy turned to Annabeth grimacing, and the returning smile that she gave him was less sympathetic and closer to an amused grin.

"What?" he said, pretending to brush his cheek. "Do I have something on my face?"

Annabeth laughed, a sound of pure happiness which melted his heart, and reached forward to wipe away a drop that he'd missed on his left cheekbone. "You never did answer my question, you know."

"Ah yes, that. Well, I guess I lost my words and felt the need to - umm - display - eh - "

"Seaweed Brain?"

"Yeah?"

"Just kiss me."

"Ok."

Percy happily obliged Annabeth's request, pulling her closer by his hold on her waist as she wrapped her arms behind his neck. Just secretly, Percy loved it when Annabeth stretched up onto her tip-toes to lean into their kisses; it made them much more intimate.

Percy pulled back as a question rose to his mind, "Can we live near to the beach?" Maybe it wasn't the best time to be thinking about locations but Annabeth just laughed and assured him that they'll take a good look at all their options before choosing someplace to live.

"Oh my gods, this is going to be great! You and me at Camp Jupiter, going to college, visiting the beach -" Percy gasped suddenly, "I can teach you how to surf!"

Just as Annabeth was considering reminding Percy that she, unlike him, had no surfing abilities and would probably drown before he could save her, she noticed Nico out of the corner of her eye, wandering up to them with a funny look on his face. For once, he didn't look brooding, like he wanted to incinerate the lot of them and replace them with a skeleton army. In fact, he actually looked rather at ease.

Percy acknowledged Nico's presence mid-speech, greeting him with a wide smile.

"Hey, man," Percy said. "Annabeth just told me some good news. Sorry if I got a little loud." As he gazed down at Annabeth, his smile turned into the biggest goofy grin and tightened his arm around her.

Nico raised an eyebrow, however, instead of coming off as contemptuous, this look seemed far more like amusement for once.

"We're going to spend our senior year together," Annabeth explained, "here, in New York. And after graduation -"

"College in New Rome!" Percy pumped his fist like he was blowing a truck horn. "Four years with no monsters to fight, no battles, no stupid prophecies. Just me and Annabeth, getting our degrees, hanging out at cafes, enjoying California-"

"And after that. . ." Annabeth kissed Percy on the cheek, causing his stomach to do a little flip. "Well, Reyna and Frank said we could live in New Rome as long as we like." Percy heard the hope behind her words, he knew the feeling well. He had long imagined a future with Annabeth and ever since his stay at Camp Jupiter, he had hoped that it would be the place they could settle down.

"That's great," Nice said. "I'm staying too, here at Camp Half-blood."

"Awesome!" Percy said. He didn't really know what he was saying anymore, the feeling of elation had temporarily robbed him of coherent thought.

"So," Nico said, "since we're going to be spending at least a year seeing each other at camp, I think I should clear the air."

The weight of Nico's words startled Percy's joy-addled brain and he felt his smile slip. Had he offended the son of Hades? Did Nico still hold a grudge over Bianca's death? He knew it was his fault, but he thought that they'd moved past it. However, Nico's next words brought an abrupt halt to his thoughts.

"For a long time, I had a crush on you. I just wanted you to know," Nico said, perfectly calm.

All of a sudden, Percy's brain felt sluggish, as though it really were made of seaweed. He couldn't possibly have heard correctly. He turned to Annabeth for confirmation but she was just looking at Nico with a hint of a smile. Confused, Percy turned back to Nico, forcing his brain to come up with something, anything. "You-" He stopped, at a loss as to what to say next.

"Yeah," Nico said. "You're a great person. But I'm over that. I'm happy for you guys."

Nico looked so sincere but Percy's brain was having a hard time wrapping his head around all the things going on in the moment. Annabeth, college, New Rome, Camp Jupiter, Nico, crush, happy - huh?

"You . . . so you mean - "

"Right."

Annabeth was definitely smiling now, looking back to watch Percy's face as he made the mental connections in his head, looking adorably confused as he made the slow realisation about what was going on.

"Wait," said Percy. "So you mean - " he fumbled with his words.

"Right," Nico said again. "But it's cool. We're cool. I mean, I see now . . . you're cute, but you're not my type."

That confused Percy even more. Cute? He wasn't sure about that word. Good-looking? Yes. Awesome? Sure. Badass-pen-wielding-maniac? Absolutely. But never had he considered himself to be cute . . . except maybe in that photo that his mom showed him from his first birthday. Damn, he was a chubby little baby. . .

But then what did he mean about not being Nico's type? He closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried out the words on his tongue, "I'm not your type . . ."

Nico seemed relaxed, chuckling a bit as he took a few steps and turning back to walk away the way he came. Percy opened his eyes and put a hand out as he saw Nico walking away, "Wait. So -"

"I'll see you around, Percy," Nico said, actually smiling at his bewildered expression, turning completely and walking away.

Percy turned to face Annabeth, hoping that she'd have some answers. For the first time ever, he was disappointed. Annabeth just laughed, kissed his cheek and grabbed his arm, pulling him along with her as she wandered over to the dining pavilion.

He let himself be dragged away, still confused about Nico. But at least, there didn't seem to be anything wrong, judging by the smiles on Nico and Annabeth's faces. And they were going to college together in New Rome. It was everything he'd dreamed of while they had battled monsters from Tartarus to Greece. Turning to look at his girlfriend, he smiled a goofy grin and allowed himself to believe that everything was going to be okay, for a while at least. Their future was way ahead of them and it seemed as though they both had similar ideas of how to spend it.


End file.
